GARDNER — As the area continues to focus on the coronavirus pandemic, the Massachusetts Nurses Association has concerns over local cuts to medical services.

Heywood Healthcare President and CEO Win Brown said Thursday, April 23, there are still questions concerning the temporary shutdown of the mental health unit at Heywood Hospital, which was closed due to the lack of patient volume in the wake of social distancing considerations.

“We are having no trouble placing the limited number of patients that have come through our ER in other local inpatient units, so if that volume returns again we will reassess and look to open,” said Brown.

He added that Heywood Healthcare has dropped a number of services because of the reduction in volume, but he noted that there are mental health offerings still provided. The geriatric psych unit, which is fully operational and has a full census, the partial hospital program, the intensive outpatient program and the telebehavioral health services are all open and still providing behavioral health services to the region.

Nurses, however, believe that there is still a need for the onsite unit.

In a press release from the Massachusetts Nurses Association, registered nurses of Heywood Hospital stated they are “strongly against” the closure of the mental health unit and call on Heywood Healthcare to reopen it, which they call “a critical service” for those in need of specialized psychiatric care, especially essential during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our mental health unit is an essential service for vulnerable members of our community,” said Kara Belmonte, a registered nurse in the mental health unit at Heywood Hospital who has been furloughed due to the closure. “There will be a wave of patients seeking urgent mental health care as the medical devastation of this pandemic peaks and then flattens and people are left with traumatic memories. Post-traumatic stress, isolation and anxiety will worsen existing conditions and create new psychiatric challenges. This pandemic is a stark reminder of the need for ongoing access to quality psychiatric treatment.”

Nurses say that the mental health care system was already overburdened before the pandemic hit and those in need of services were already waiting for treatment.

The MNA has additionally called for a halt to all hospital service closure and staff cutbacks during the COVID-19 pandemic, adding that no health care facility that receives additional state or federal funding to help them during the COVID-19 pandemic should lay off or cancel staff, or close facilities or services.

Last week Brown reported that because of the patient drop in volume for everything from elective surgeries to emergency treatment, Heywood Healthcare was losing $5 million per month in revenue. The results have been hundreds of layoffs, furloughs and cuts in salary for administration.

Dawn Casavant, vice president of external affairs, said the MHU is not closed, adding there are regulatory processes involved around closing an essential service.